A Friend is a Friend (is a Foe (Or is it?))
by Akatsuli Fate Chan
Summary: Being adopted into the Zoaldyeck family is not always a good thing; especially if their motivation is suspect. OC and Kalluto centric.


A/N Hunter X Hunter and associated is not owned by me.  
Chapter one: Adoption

Lilith was just a starved girl, but that was supposed to change. Her father had a plan; he was a strong nen user, so he decided he'd stuff his pride and work as a mercenary. It had been his first job, but he'd already managed to gain an enemy. An rich enemy, who had connections all over the place. Including, of course, that of the Zoaldyecks, assassin's for hire.

Lilith was hungry, she was starving. She'd been eyeing the rotting food with expectant eyes for a while now. She'd been dropped off at an alley while her father was busy on a job not that far away from her. He would be paid the second day at his new job. This was the second day. He'd dropped her off because they were homeless and usually they would stick together, so that Lilith would be protected. However, now he was planning to get a house and food with the money he'd get from his pay-check. He anticipated this so much, that he left her in the open like that, unprotected.

A long-haired boy walked inside the alley with strong lopes and a feline posture. Sailis wasn't paying attention to the male. She chewed on her lips, feeling like if she didn't, she'd aim for the rotting food. Not now, not when there was still the possibility of real food. Not when she could regain her pride, perhaps. That's why she only noticed his presence when he extended her a hand filled with food. Her eyes flew to the food, hands automatically snatching it away as if he would pull his offering away at any moment. He gifted her a thin, exasperated smile. As if she were some particularly retarded kitten. She stuffed herself with the meat, ripping large chunks away. When her stomach was full and her mouth empty, she finally eyed the stranger who'd handed her the food. First, she noticed the chalky colour of his skin. The man's smooth complexion. His long, slender fingers. Next, with particular interest, she glimpsed his black silky hair and itched to touch it. However, the sentiment drained away when they locked eyes. Her wide dull blue eyes. His hollow black holes. She flinched and dropped eyecontact, and felt a hand rustle her hair. "Good girl," the male decided. Then he heard sirens in the distance and his hand left, as did he retract his steps out of the alley.  
She didn't wonder about him. Instead, she sat down onto a bin and huddle closer to the wall. She waited for her father to come pick her up, like he'd promised. She waited all day and all night long before the police found her and she was brought to a social service worker. "Wait - what?" she stammered, the blood draining away from her skin, creating a pale chalky colour. She felt faint, disconnected from reality. Her father couldn't have been assassinated first day on his new job - that was what happens to other people. Never them! The small, pristine white office was beginning to feel too small. Distantly, she heard a voice; "Breath deeply, in - out - in - out." It was only when she felt like she would faint, that she realized that she'd been hyperventilating. Was, in fact, still busy breathing herself unconscious.

The social worker ended up letting her sleep in her house for the night, once she had finally knocked herself unconscious. To everyone's suprise, the next day the social worker ended up already contacted by a family willing to take the girl in. An smartly dressed woman, the would-be mother, her kimono clad son and the father where all there to sign the paperwork required. They were an odd bunch, though the resemblance in the family could be noted. The child had his mother's colouring but his father's face and build. Apparently he had three other siblings. The social worker checked her records on the computer on whether they had a history on child problems, but no. Further checks indicated they were squeeky clean. Apparently they also owned a big enough house, or rather mansion, to house so many children and still have room free. They weren't hurting money wise either. It seemed, on face vault, perfect. But even then, as was her duty as a social worker, she still had to interview them on their reasons for the adoptation.

She led the family into her sterile, square office. It was decorated mainly to calm down people, with a mellow and clean environment. The social worker placed a stack of signed papers on the desk as she slipped into her chair behind it. "It says here," she read, "That you wish for Lilith to be your daughter not only because of your relationship with her mother; Melody Pond, diceaced but also because you can ensure a comfortable, well cared for future for her. Define well cared for." The woman took the stand, "We are well off enough that food, shelter and education is within her reach. As a Zoaldyeck, she will also have connections which could come in handy for future prospects." Then she glanced back at her husband, who continued off from her, "And, because of our relationship with her mother, you can be assured that we will look after her as if she we're our own and smother her with love. Also, because we knew her mother, she can come to us with any questions she may have about the woman, if she so wished." The social woker nodded, as deep in her mind she mulled over what she had heard. Taking a deep breath, she continued her interrogation.

Two hours later later found the family meeting the child for what seemed to be the first time. She had finally woken up and they had passed the interview and now, officially, had custody over her. "I don't want to," Lilith decided, crossing her arms in front of her in a defensive gesture. "I'm not your daughter." However, despite her strong, decisive words, in her head she thought that she was a bit too numb to care. What did it matter? Her father was dead, her mother she'd never known, and those attempting to adopt her had enough money that she won't ever starve again. The idea was attractive at a pure survival stand point. But even then, she couldn't find within herself to feel any excitement about the idea. No anticipation at all. Kyoko placed a slim hand onto her shoulder and steered her towards the car outside of the building.  
She sat inside the vehicle, next to her brother to be. She glanced at him, scanned him from top to toe. Honestly, if Lilith didn't know better, she would think them to be related. Same colouring, pitch black hair and pale skin, and same build as well though Lilith was more rubusk, and then there was the fact that one of Lilith's eyes was blue. In fact, the same shade of blue as her would be father, an unwieldy steel blue. The time was spent with her parents to be talking about adult business and her would be brother introducing himself as Kalluto. He told her about his hobbies. He told her about his brothers, "Killua, Illumi, Milluki," while Lilith listened attentively and recognised that there was a pattern in their names. Double l's, one u and one i. "Do you want to fold origami with me when we're home?" her would be brother asked pleasantly. Lilith leaned against the leather covering of the car. "Mmm," she commented non-commitably. But that was enough to him, apparently, as he relaxed and stayed silent the rest of the trip.

There was a gate which could only be open by someone with the strength to shift two ton. At the same time though, that was only level one. There where eight levels in total and the two ton weight of level one multiplied and then kept on multiplying the higher the level. Sailis was busy ignoring all of the oddeties she observed, mostly because she was still too numb to care. But she did carefully take note of them to ruminate about later. The house was more than a mansion. It was a series of interconnecting buildings which made for eleven bedrooms, two dining rooms, a kitchen and several training rooms which had been embedded into the mountain. Lilith gasped once inside the lounge where a man was seemingly polishing needles. It was the most of an reaction she had shown since she'd woke up. "You," she bit out whilst rudely pointing at the other. "Lilith," he commented lightly before he began a series of exercises with his needles and paid her no further mind. Lilith looked around, on her hood for any other surprises but she couldn't see anyone else. "Milluki spends his days wasting away on a computer," Kalluto piped up as he entered the room. He crossed the carpet separating them, to place a hand on her shoulder. "It's dinner time. Come with me," he ordered, and she unwittingly was led through the labyrinth of corridors until she finally entered a well lit room.

There was a long, narrow table stretching over the floor. It was covered by a feast. A celebration to signify her entrance into the family. She took place next to Kalluto and an old man, apparently her new granfather. He looked like Silva. She tucked in while listening to the idle conversation. The dinner tasted great and she hungrily ate it as her stomach was still quite empty. However, eventually she had to stop with her plate still half filled. Her stomach had to return used to food again. For now, it was too small for her to enjoy food to the fullest. Immediately afterwards, pain radiated in her head. But she was known for having chronic migraines so she wasn't that concerned. "Musume, you should really meet Killua," Kyoko suggested once the woman had finished her meal and wiped her lips and hands with a napkin. "He's our older brother," Kalluto whispered from the chair next to Sailis, "The heir to the family estate and all it means." Lilith tilted her head to the side in agreement. "Sure," she monotoniously dictated, "Whenever." Granfather Zeno, as was his name, explained that he was out for a training mission and that it was still unknown when he would return home. Lilith narrowed her eyes in thought, "Training mission?" she reiterated thoughtfully. She didn't yet know how the estate had come to be. Why did the Zoaldyeck family have so much money to spare? There must be a reason behind it, maybe a family business or the like. But from what she'd seen on the grounds, it was all strength orientated. And also, seeing those exercises that Illumi had done. . . it was quite possible the family business was something military or mercenary based. She could live with that, though she did winch as she remembered her father, who'd died on his second day of being a mercenary. She forcibly pushed the thought to the back of her mind, prefering not to think about it.

Kalluto led her to her new room, showing her it's undecorated and not painted interior. "There are buckets of paint in the storage room. Mother is going to bring us on a shopping trip to get you some furniture and decorations tomorrow. Want to see my room?" he asked, in rapid succession. Lilith tilted her head in thought before finally nodded. What could be the harm? Kalluto's room, was apparently quite far away from her own. It had a heavy, almost thrumming atmosphere to it. Like the room was alive. It had a gold and black colour scheme running. The rug felt silky to the touch. Lilith appraised the room, looking at the workshop half of the room was, the other half filled by the bed, vanity and various toiletries. There was also a in walk closet embedded into the wall west of the workshop. Kalluto spread his arms wide, "This is my room," he declared with unsteadfast smugness. He was obviously proud with what he'd done to it. An hour later found them both on his king sized bed, folding origami together. Kalluto was explaining how to create various forms whilst Lilith, as she was keen to do, was listening attentively, sometimes nodding to show she was still listening. "It's ugly," she decided with a glance at what she'd, so far, had managed to create. Kalluto patted her head condencingly, "You do not have to worry. Skill takes practise," and then placed his own exemplair example on the sheets between them. Of course, while for Lilith it was simply a time wasting exercise, Kalluto was doing so in preparation of his nen ability. So he was utterly serious about his origami. Eventually, it grew late. Considering that Lilith didn't have a bed yet, he invited her to sleep on his bed for the night, which she accepted.

In the first few weeks in the Zoaldyeck family, Lilith came to many conclusions. Conclusion number one, she always had something adverse going on with her body after she ate dinner. Conclusion number two, she was apparently expected to also participate in the family business, as she'd been confronted with a room full of weapons and was then made to choice one she felt most comfortable with as was she given a list with martial arts to learn. Conclusion number three, she was also supposed to feel that the family was her family. It was highly implied that she should spend time with her new siblings and grow bonds. Apparently, they did not wish for a loose cannon. Lilith was fine with the physical exertion and spending time with her brothers, as it distracted her from her own lingering sorrow about her father's death. Her weapon in choice had become a circlet sickle, in which the basic form of her weapon were chains wrapped around both arms, but when she snapped her wrists, half of the chain links at both arms transmuted into the blades of scythes and the rest remained chains. She could then snap her wrists to control their movement or the length of the chain leaving her arms. Of course, to use them correctly she had to first drastically improve her upper body strength. Hence, exercising. Push ups primarily. The thing was awesome was awesome. She felt like she'd just found her soulmate. She also found out that violent antics was in the blood, for she actually had fun using it on the people who had been brought to the mansion specifically for her to practise on. Of course, all of those people easily kicked her butt in the process. Still, the adrenaline pumping through her veins was a delicious feeling. Also, fighting for her own survival left no time to meander about her dead father. Same as falling asleep at night, utterly exhausted. Kyoko, or mother as she'd begin calling her in her mind as she'd never really had a mother figure for Kyoko to replace, couldn't be more proud of her for adapting so well to being a Zoaldyeck. The only person her interactions with weren't survival orientated was Kalluto. The boy had turned out to be a good, reliable friend to have.

"So this is Killua?" Lilith asked, hiding as she was behind a bundle of trees. Kalluto was seated on the soil next to her, his eyes kept closed and expression calm. "Agreed," he answered in affirmative. The wind rustled the branches of the tree he was leaning against. Walking on the mud path behind the trees was Killua. He held under his arm a skateboard, held tightly against his side. She whistled low, "He's like a carbon copy of Silva, except less muscled." The siblings stayed there even when Killua had left their line of vision. Kalluto suggested, after a lounging hour, to go search for what they set out to do; medicinal herbs. "Alright," Lilith decided whilst hicking up both sleeves. It wouldn't do to get them dirty. Lilith started digging in the shrubbery a mile away from where Kalluto was. Kalluto left east bound where she knew a collection of herbs existed. Their rendezvous site was in the open field north east bound from the mud path.

However, before she could consider returning to the rendezvous point after gathering up several handfulls of herbs, Illumi had come to see her. "Come with me," he told her and his voice was placid but with an underlying steel current. She aquised willingly enough, though made sure to write a message for Kalluto about the reason behind her sudden disappearance in the mud. She had to jog to keep up with Illumi's strong strides as he briefed her on a mission. Her first mission. Silva and Kyoko had decided she was finally ready for one. She'd only been adopted four months now. "Do you think I'm ready?" Lilith wondered, hiding her anxiety behind her true curiosity. He was her primary trainer, though in all honestly Lilith never felt like she could get along with him, as he was a ruthless being who seemed to be believe that strife and battle was all there was to life. He forgot often the emotional aspect, which people require to function well. That's why she was lucky to have Kalluto, who could provide her with said aspect. "If father said so," Illumi answered dismissively, which really wasn't an answer at all as he bent his head to go into the car. The car would bring them to their target. The assassination of Ghellock Roman was to be a public display; the Zoaldyeck's had been paid to do so, because the client wanted to let his death be a warning to everyone else willing to mess with him. However, she was meant to remain unseen. In other words, because it was her first mission, Illumi was there as well as he was a long distance specialist and as such could finish the job if she were to screw up.

Milluki had been able to locate the target to be at the city square, in plain view. Illumi and Lilith hid themselves in a building located across of it. From here, she had a perfect vantage point off the target. Illumi, with his needles, could throw them at the target easily from there and strike true. But because Lilith had been taken along with no time to prepare, she had no such weapon at hand. The only weapon she had with her that she was marginally good at using was her trusty sickle chain but even then, if she where to attack with it, anyone could see where the chains led from. That means she had to improvise on the other tools she had stored inside her kimono and black bandage esemble. Inside the seams of her sleeves she had numerous senbon stashed. If she were to use them, her aim had to be true, because otherwise they wouldn't at all cause harm and definitely not death. No, those weren't good enough for her needs. Lilith glanced at her knee high boots. The heels of here boots could be taken apart and inside she'd stashed bottles of deadly poison. She could disguise herself and then pour it into the targets drink or contaminate something else from the target, somehow. Except that wasn't public enough. The poison she had with her wouldn't allow symptoms to show until enough time had taken place for her to disappear and have erased her tracks, for safety reasons and to protect her from prosecution. There was plenty of time for the target to stray from the public and instead, die securely surrounded by concrete on his lonesome. No, the poison wouldn't do either.

Lilith sighed, leaning over the windowsill, enjoying the cool breeze which chafed her cheeks red. Inside her slacks she still had several pairs of brassknuckles, but those were definitely not useful in this situation. Lilith still had a gun strapped to her tight. . . that would do, though not preferred as she wasn't the best at aiming. Blatantly saying, that she honestly sucked and that there was the possibility of other people getting shot. At the thought, Lilith's confident posture wavered and the serene expression on her face was disturbed. She slowly gripped the gun in both hands while she backed away from the window. Flashing through her mind was her father, how she imagined he'd died. How many people out there had relatives who would be hurt from their departure as well? It would be more merciful to kill of the whole family if she actually hit them. Of course, there was the fact that the target probably had people who would be sad to see him gone, but he was in the mafia. Innocent bystanders. . . could she really do something so risky that could cause their deaths as collateral damage? A scuff of a boot against the wooden pannels inside the room snapped her attention back to reality. She found, to her suprise, that she had backed all the way up against the wall. Illumi was still there, watching her with disapproving black holes for eyes. She suppressed a shiver, but glanced at the window nevertheless. Even so, could she really disappoint her family in this way?

Assassination, as she'd found out by the first month, was what the family business actually was. And for that, to be a successful assassin, was how she was being brought up. She had been gaining immunity of poisons by eating them in her meals in ever increasing doses and combinations. Her lung capacity was also being increased, as was her pain tolerance to several things she could be faced with in the field, including cold steel. She had also been forced to adapt to any sort of climate. Desert conditions or tundra conditions, she could thrive in both if forced to. All this preparation, the time and effort spent improving herself. . . would all be wasted if she did not pull the trigger without remorse. It was her pride, her morals, and her craving for a family that was pitted against one another. Her conscious self managed to drag her body back to the open window, and her gaze lowered to her target. Her hands still shook, but nevertheless, she raised the hand gun and aimed. With an iron willpower, she waited for the correct moment. For when her target stopped moving and sat down onto a terras. For when the couple sitting at the round table near him vacated the terras to stroll towards the clothing shop opposite it. Nobody else was near. . . now was the time to strike. As it time slowed down, Lilith watched, detached, as one slender finger pulled the trigger. Her hand rocked backwards, though not as badly as it could be with her other hand steadying it, as a sturdy rock battered by a tidal wave. She managed to make the shot, though rather then the heart getting hit as she'd wanted, she'd managed to end the target with an headshot. A hand clasped on her shoulder, a silent congratulations for a job well done. She twisted around to watch Illumi, black holes radiating approval. So quickly had his feelings changed. She pushed the thought towards the back of her mind, to think on later. Outside, she could hear screams. She could hear the chaos she must have created. Illumi led her out of the building, ensuring they remained unseen. They could easily move through the rampant crowd. . . hidden as just one of the many people escaping from the scene of the crime.

Later found Illumi reporting in on his sister's first mission. His father's office was as always, a dark place, though Illumi derived comfort from the man's presence, which had touched everything in it. He bowed low. "Father." The man nodded back, crossing his hands in front of him in a pose that could only be described as thoughtful. "Son," his father replied with calm assurance. Illumi told his father without further prelum how the mission had gone. "Albite her desensitation should still continue, she has shown to react in a positive manner to my encouragement to get the job done and therefore, her assimilation in the clan has been successful." He clinically concluded, unflappable despite the fact that he'd just confessed, in an indirect way, to have used emotional cues to manipulate his sister into comitting an act of homicide. At the same time, however, that if she could be manipulated to do things her moral code was against just by Illumi's disapproval, showed she cared. That she hungered for his, and in other words the rest of the Zoaldyecks' approval. That she'd succesfully began to consider herself under the Zoaldyeck banner. His father remained silent, thoughtful. Then he began to softly, almost inaudibly, laugh. Illumi remained silent and waited for the other to regain his composure, which he did. "Dismissed." Illumi bowed once again before swiftly exiting the room.

Kalluto was laughing, slapping his knee, cheeks engulved by excited red. "The headshot was an accident? Seriously?" he asked, indulging in humour which Lilith would once have despised, but now only pouted over. She was sitting crosslegged on his bed, and had just told him the whole story, minus the inner contemplations that appeared during it. "Yes. It would seem that, in all honestly. . . it was all pure luck," Lilith sulked as she hugged a cushion to her chest. "Well, maybe this'll just be incentative for you to take your accuracy lessons more seriously. I know I wouldn't have lived it down without attempting improval," Kalluto suggested faux flippantly, but his words had an undercurrent to them that made them all the more serious. "I will," Lilith promised solemnly while she carefully suppressed any of her thoughts about her father to actually reach beyond the depths of her mind where she wasn't conciously aware of them. "Now, what have you been doing today while I was gone?" she interrogated as she bluntly changed the subject. Amused, but not repelled, Kalluto complied to her will. "Mother and I made the food for tonight. . ."

"Once more," The tutor dictated as she brushed a strand of sweaty hair back and breathed heavily. She flexed her hand, flipping the scythe upside down and ramming it into the target, which spewed fake blood to make it more realistic. That had been the sight she was met since that first mission she had gone one to. She could guess why; perhaps Illumi thought her hesistance had more to do with not wanting to see gore than the true reason. But that was alright. She threw the other blade at the tutor, and the woman's claymore and her scythe clashed. She brought it down on the other's sword, and it rattled with the force of impact. The tutor aimed a kick at her open abdomen, which she dodged, the scrape of metal resounding as she brought out another scythe, crisscross, against the blade of the claymore. She jumped away, lashing out to use her scythes to block the strike aimed towards her shoulder. She bent her leg behind her and shifted, the chains wrapped around her hands unwinding as she increased the length of her scythe. Inspiration flickered across her mind and she slid backwards even more, out of reach of the woman's claymore. She extended her scythe towards the ceiling and then her other scythe, allowing the chain to run from her arms as it pleased. She was dragged upwards, lifted. . . swinging. She attacked, slashed with her right hand, and swung backwards before the other could retaliate and just as quickly swung back in front of the person for another attack. Her improvised way of fighting seemed to work, but then her tutor adapted to her and the rhythm with which she swung. Now, she could not dodge anymore, only parry or block the person's attacks. In the end, the spar ended in Lilith's defeat. She bowed her head. "Thank you for the fight," before she walked out of the dojo and slinked back towards where she knew Kalluto to be, folding his origami.

"Oh. Hey," he greeted her without even a glance, carefully pinching the folds of his origami piece. She smiled at him as she flopped onto his bed, taking in the many origami specimens he'd already made. "I just came up with a new movement," she told him proudly, and waited for his praise. But Kalluto was bestowing all his concentration on his folding, and so did not reply. She pouted a bit at this, moving so she was hugging her his cushion to her chest. Spice and blood, that was what he smelled like. "Were you and mother making dinner again today?" she asked, as she idly ran a nail down Kalluto's back, intent eyes following the shudder that he released. "Yes," he admitted, now that his concentration had been broken, and with a sigh he placed his origami construction back onto his desk, and glanced towards her. "Do you wish to go looking for herbs again?" he asked. "Or maybe it's better if you and I go keep an eye on big brother. He's been crabby recently; mother's worried." Big brother? She tilted her head to the side in contemplation. Oh. Right. The Silva clone whom she barely saw. "Whatever you feel like," she replied, withdrawing her hand to stroke the soft exterior of the comfitter on the bed. "I honestly don't mind either way, though I do like knowing a bit more about herbs." Especially considering quite a few of them were poisonous; so it would be advantegous to know about. "Well, big brother is often in the forest," Kalluto conceded as he returned a pile of colourful paper back into his drawers. "So we could do both." She nodded; that seemed best, and patiently waited until he was done sorting his stuff away. Once done, he clapped his hands, satisfied. The both of them left his room, filtering in the anthill of a corridor system. Not much longer later, they were finally outside. Lilith closed her eyes, enjoying the slight breeze kissing her skin ever so weightlessly. She felt a hand clasp around her own, and then Kalluto was there, pulling her along impatiently.

They sped across the mud path, until they reached a clearing parallel to the herb field. Lilith saw Killua there, with another person. The two of them seemed to be conversing quietly together, conspirationally. She craned her head to have a better look, but Kalluto stopped her, bringing her attention back to the shrubs. "We don't want to be seen." She nodded her head, already reaching for the digging implements they'd left there from last time. There was no need to be worried about anyone stealing from them, considering it was private property, after all. "Who's that other boy?" she quietly asked once they'd were farther away from the two, so their voices wouldn't be noticed. "He's my younger brother," he admitted, and there was a blank look in his face, wiped of emotion, that she'd never seen before. She decided that this brother, whoever he was, wasn't someone who should concern her. She trusted and valued Kalluto's opinion, so if he thought that their brother was bad news, he must be. He smiled slightly, a soft curve of his lips, as she very deliberately dropped the subject, choosing to converse about foxglove instead. It was soon dark outside, and a servant appeared to announce that dinner was ready. Kalluto picked himself up from the floor, stretching his arms and back. He let out a soft sound of contentment. She mimicked him, though she also rolled her shoulders a few times; they had been becoming stiff. She let Kalluto lead her back to the main mansion, and then the dining hall.


End file.
